The Forest of the Dead
by PeaceLoveAndCheese
Summary: With the Heroes of Olympus trapped in a world of dreams and nightmares, the earth is in danger yet again. And time is running out. With dead people walking around amongst mortals and unfinished prophecies, it's only a matter of time before the apocalypse begins... again. The seven demigods are back... but this time, they're not saving the world. They're saving themselves.
1. I Percy

**I'M BA-ACK!**

**MWA HA HA HA! A HA HA HA HA! HA HA! HA! HA HA HA HA!**

**Oh, that felt good. A little more...**

**HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**

**And boy, have I got a story for you!**

**HE HE HE HE HE! NARF!**

**So... anyway, I read the Mark of Athena and it is flipping epic. And I finally got to read The Demigod Diaries... and started cursing Rick Riordan within an inch of his life. Because I spent half the summer researching really good monsters for my stories, thinking I was all creative and stuff. You guys know about my Cacus thingy, how I wrote that before the Demigod Diaries came out and low and behold there is Cacus in the middle of the book with Percy and Annabeth because Rick hates me. And then I read the book today, finally, and BOOM! There goes another few of my monsters that I was going to use. CURSE YOU RICK YOU FREAKING EVIL GENIUS MAN!**

**Enough of that, though...**

**I was going to give you a long authors note on my life, but decided not to since you don't want to read that. Anyway...**

**HERE IT IS! THE SEQUEL TO MY MARK OF ATHENA! THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! CHAPTER ONE!**

**Oh, and for you newbies, it IS recommended that you go and read that one first. Or at least the last few chapters. Yeah. But I've included a little blurb from that just in case you guys forgot what happened when we last left our heroes, or you're just to lazy to go read the other story. Whatever.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_And then he realized his feet had carried him home. To the place where he knew his mother and Paul were sleeping, waiting for their son to return to them. He would surprise them._

_ His speed picked up. His feet pounded the pavement as he raced towards one of the three places he had missed so much. Back to people he loved._

_ He would've gotten there too, if it weren't for the teenager falling from the sky._

_ The next thing he knew, Percy was flat on his stomach, all of the air knocked out of him. He felt something heavy lying on top of him, not moving. He managed to shove the thing off and roll over._

_ A teenage boy was lying on the sidewalk, about his age, unconscious. Percy took in the blonde hair, the familiar purple t-shirt. He didn't just recognize it, he knew it._

_ He glared up at the sky. What were the gods playing at now?_

_ The boy's eyelids slid open, revealing blue. He groaned. Percy stared in shock at someone who shouldn't be there, someone who was totally wrong, someone who had his own home, far on the other side of the country._

_ "Jason?"_

* * *

I

Percy

Percy figured that the worst night of his life was during the Titan War. He was wrong.

After Jason had fallen from the sky on top of him, Percy was irritated, to say the least. He had been knocked out by a creepy magical goddess, flung in to the middle of New York City, he didn't know where any of his other friends had gotten to, and they were in the middle of trying to save the world. Actually... that was a pretty typical day, in demigod standards.

Jason was on his feet now, trying to clear his head. "Ow," he said.

"What happened to you?" Percy asked, looking up and down the streets to see if anyone (like, how about, Annabeth) was coming down the street.

Jason screwed up his face like he was trying to remember. "There was this... woman. A goddess. Probably. She told me something about... I can't remember. Then I woke up here."

"Yeah, sounds familiar," Percy said. "Did you see anyone else?"

Jason shook his head. Percy sighed. "Great. Now we have to search all of New York to find them."

"Assuming they're in New York," Jason pointed out.

"Thank you, Captain Optimism. Any other words of wisdom you'd like to share?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Ha ha."

"Come on," Percy said. "Let's look for something mystical and find everyone else so we can get out of here."

* * *

They wandered up and down the streets for a while. Percy had been afraid that he was going to get them lost, considering how long it had been since he had been around the city and the fact that it was always changing, but he was relieved to find that he could still find his way around at the drop of a hat.

Finally, Jason slid down a wall. "We've been searching forever and we haven't found _anything_."

"I know," Percy said, sitting down next to him. His head was spinning from being thrown into a wall by Cacus earlier, his feet were killing him and he was terribly confused. He snuck a glance at Jason. "Hey, wasn't your leg broken before?"

Jason looked down at it in surprise. "Oh. Yeah. When Frank took me back to the Argo, Tyson and Ella fixed me up. Ambrosia and stuff..." His eyes grew wide. "Tyson and Ella!"

"What about them?" Percy asked.

"They were still on the Argo when I went back, looking for you guys! If we can get a message to them-"

Percy interrupted. "-then they can come and get us! Or find the others!"

Jason grinned. "Exactly."

Percy struggled back to his feet. "Fantastic!" He looked around for a water source and located a dripping pipe, broken and sticking out of the wall. He closed his eyes and the water immediately began to mist into the street. Luckily, the streets of New York were so well lit that there was plenty of light to cast a rainbow with.

"Jason, drachma," Percy ordered. The son of Jupiter dug the coin out of his pocket and tossed it into the water. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Tyson, on the Argo II."

Percy and Jason waited as the mist spurted into the cool air. Suddenly, Tyson shimmered into view. He looked worried. Ella was preening anxiously on the deck.

"Tyson!" Percy shouted. "Tyson!"

The mist crackled and the picture suddenly turned to static and became red hot. A voice like a telemarketer started speaking. "_This message has been terminated due to out-of-range contact. Iris Messaging Service (IMS) apologizes for the inconvenience. And now, a word from our sponsor: R.O.F.L. Serving the mythological world organic nutrients since 1942, we strive for excellence in our all-natural, great tasting products, such as-"_

Percy let the water drop before the ad could start talking about soy cupcakes or gluten free doughnut simulations.

"Okay," Jason said, "Is it supposed to do that?"

"No," Percy said. "And this means that we're on our own."

Jason nodded. "Just great."

"Let's go," Percy said. "Maybe we can make it back to Camp Half-Blood before we get attacked by monsters or eaten by a giant worm or mugged by teenagers."

"That can happen?" Jason asked. "Wow, I didn't realize New York was that cool."

Percy cracked a smile at that. "Come on, California."

They headed off down the street. Percy glanced at the crowded streets for an empty taxi cab. He prepared to give one of his New York born-and-bred whistles when someone came hurtling down the street and knocked into him.

"Whoa!" Percy said, regaining his balance and looking at the person who had almost bowled him over... and did a double take.

Because standing in front of him was Nico di Angelo.

* * *

"_NICO?!" _Percy couldn't keep the shock out of his voice. And his face probably portrayed that a bit too well.

"Percy?" Nico's eyes widened. "What the Hades... oh no. No no no no no. This is not good, not good, very very not good."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Percy asked him, "And how in the world did you escape from Gaea?"

Nico didn't seem to be listening. "We have to get out, we have to get out... Percy! Did you leave anyone in back? In the real world?"

"Um, I don't know. I was kind of unconscious for a lot of it," Percy said, before Nico's words sunk in. "What do you mean in the real world?"

Nico either suddenly noticed Jason or was very effective at changing the subject. "Jason! You're here too? Oh, wonderful. Just what we need."

"I take it you're not happy to see me." The son of Jupiter didn't look that pleased either.

"Sorry, but I don't really have time to sugar coat this," Nico said. "We have to get out of here. And fast. Percy, have you tried communicating with anyone?"

"Tyson," Percy said. "They're back on the Argo. But something happened to the Iris Message and we got cut off."

"Great, now we don't have contact. Have you tried anyone else that could possibly be here?" Nico was getting increasingly nervous. "Anyone at all?"

"No..." Percy said. "Nico, what's going on? Where are we? And what in the world are you talking about?"

Nico opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he shimmered. "Styx. They're bringing me back. Percy!"

"What?"

"You have to get out of here. I'll try and contact Tyson, if he's the only person that can help. But you need to leave!"

"Nico, where are we? What's happening?"

"No time!" Nico was starting to fade from sight. "Go find the others! I'm assuming they'll be at the concert. Hurry!"

"What concert?" Percy asked.

Nico's image was almost gone. "Look to your left!" he cried before completely disappearing.

"Well..." Percy said, "That was the weirdest thing I've seen for a while." He turned to Jason. "What's the concert?"

"I'm thinking he means that concert." Jason pointed to a poster taped to a streetlamp that read _COME JOIN THE BEST SINGERS IN HISTORY! ONE NIGHT ONLY!_****"The one with the dead people."

* * *

**MWA HA HA HA! BOW DOWN MORTALS, FOR I AM SUPREME!**

**Not really. But I have LOTS of super-duper-uber fun ideas for this story! It's going to rock now that I've gotten off my lazy butt and actually done something with this. Heh.**

**Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to Hugs6 for being the best FanFiction buddy I could hope for. And for being endlessly patient while I try to process her request. LOVE YA HUGS! I'M SO SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME THIS LONG! :3**

**LOVE YA ALL!**

**Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, Americans! What are you guys having to eat? Right now my dinner consists of take-away pizza and pumpkin pie... PERFECT! XD**

**REVIEW IF YOU LOVE ME! OR PERCY JACKSON! TAKE YOUR PICK!**

**Disclaimer: NOODLES ARE SCRUMPTIOUS! NOODLES ARE SCRUMPTIOUS! DAVID TENNANT IS A SEXY BEEAAAAST!... Yes, I'm procrastinating. Characters are all property of Rick Riordan. I just enjoy making their lives miserable and coming up with insane ideas. XP I don't own anything.**


	2. II Percy

**Um... hi?**

**I know, I know, it's been forever... like, I don't know... oo... erm, I last updated... last year. So... basically eight months ago. **

**Please don't kill me?**

**Anyway, summer's here, I'm free, and I'm going to TRY and give you updates on at least one thing every week. Unless I give you previous warning that I won't be doing that. So... yeah.**

**For those of you who are Doctor Who fans, be prepared for three one-shots coming your way. Two serious and one fun and crack-like. Just for those of you who are looking out for that.**

**_The Rants of the Mighty Athena_ will be updated as soon as I finish the chapter, which is about halfway done. And _The Random Adventures of Demigod Heroes _will be updated as soon as Luny gets back to me on that (WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO, GIRL?) And... I think those are the only stories I'm doing... at the moment...**

**Anyway, I would give you a long rambling note about my life, but I'll save that for the bottom, since I know you guys want to get to the story. So, if you would like to hear about my life, well then you'll find out about that after the chapter. If not, just skip it and review! **

**Even though I don't deserve it...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I just own... well nothing. BUT DID YOU SEE THE COVER TO THE HOUSE OF HADES? OH MY GOSH! IT'S SOOOOO AWESOME! If you haven't seen it, CHECK IT OUT! ... but I don't own that either. **

* * *

II

Percy

Percy had never been a big fan of music. For starters, he was dyslexic: i.e. he already couldn't read English when it was made up of words. Throw in an entire language type thing that was made up of basically math and seven letters with one demigod who couldn't sit still and you had a whole recipe for disaster already made. It didn't help that the culture was really freaky and that his third grade music teacher spit when she talked, which kind of scarred him for life, no matter how many times he had been covered in monster slime.

And all that was _before_ he figured out that all pop icons were actually pawns of the gods...

Anyway, Percy and Jason decided that if Nico said that the concert was where all their friends were and was most likely not going to get them killed on sight, it wouldn't hurt to go see what it was all about. They took the poster from it's roost (which Percy suspected was sort of illegal, but he didn't really care at the moment) and headed off downtown, to Madison Square Garden, one of the biggest music venues in New York City. Percy had only been there once, stopping a giant flying squid from eating all the hot dogs in the concession stand and destroying a sacred emblem of Mr. D's in exchange for not getting turned into a bottle of Merlot (long story).

Luckily, with a flying boy around, Percy and Jason were able to hop the fences and get in free of charge, no questions asked. The only person who saw them was some hobo, who clutched his liquor bottle closer to his chest and shrieked something about black magic and giant pigeons. The Mist really was a handy thing sometimes.

"So," Jason said when they were inside, "What's next?"

Percy shrugged. "Slip into the crowd, get in, find our friends, get out, try not to blow stuff up. Best we can do, I guess."

Jason nodded, and they started to infiltrate the masses, keeping an eye out for the other demigods. Percy thought he caught a glimpse of familiar curly hair a couple of times, but he wasn't sure.

They made it through the doors and into the main arena. A stage with numerous instruments, microphones and pyrotechnics was set up on it.

"Wow..." Jason breathed, staring around the place, his mouth open at the throngs of people who continued to pour into the building.

Percy chuckled. "Close your mouth, guppy."

Jason glared at him. "I really don't like your fish analogies."

"Son of Poseidon, what do you expect?"

"THE CONCERT WILL BEGIN IN FIVE MINUTES!" a loudspeaker boomed from the stage, over the people's voices, just serving to make everyone either shut up or talk louder. "PLEASE TAKE YOU SEATS. THE CONCERT WILL BEGIN IN FIVE MINUTES!"

As so not to get trampled by the feet of thousands of people rushing to find a chair or space to preserve their personal bubble, Percy and Jason decided that the best thing to do was to sit down in the closest seats, which happened to be next to-

"Frank?" Percy asked.

The strongly built teenager turned towards them, his eyes widening. "Percy? Jason? Oh my gods, where have you two been? Where's everyone else? For that matter, where the Hades are we?"

"Don't know, don't know and don't know," Percy said.

"Very helpful," Frank grumbled, sitting back in his chair.

"Look on the bright side..." Jason trailed off. "There really is no bright side, is there?"

"We could be dead," Percy put in helpfully.

"Yeah... good thoughts, Percy," Jason told him, rolling his eyes.

Something caught Frank's eye. "Hey, guys, is that-"

Whatever Frank was going to say was cut off as the lights dimmed. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" a voice boomed over a loudspeaker. "WELCOME TO THE FIRST ANNUAL CONCERT OF LEGENDS!"

Percy couldn't exactly see in the dark, but he thought Jason had his head tilted to the side. "Does that voice sound familiar to you?"

Percy listened to the voice go over the rules of the concert hall they were in, including a warning to turn off their cell phones. "Yeah. Is that-?"

Percy was cut off when the lights suddenly shown on the stage. The curtains parted and revealed... Leo, wearing a tech headset and a tuxedo.

"What?" Percy and Frank said at the same time.

"He looks nice in a tux, you have to admit," someone said from behind them.

The three boys jumped about a foot in the air. Percy found Riptide in his hand, pointed behind them.

Hazel backed away and held up her hands. "Whoa, Percy. I'm not Medusa."

"Sorry." Riptide clicked back into pen form. "You startled us."

"What do you mean, '_He looks nice in a tux_?'" Frank said.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Are any of the others with you?"

Hazel shook her head. "I woke up in an underground train car. The crowds were all coming here and I kind of got swept along. I found another underground track and manipulated the tunnels to get me inside. Then I saw you three."

"How?"

"You're kind of hard to miss," Hazel laughed. "You guys look so out of place. Well, except for maybe our born and bred New Yorker." She smiled at Percy, who looked at the ground.

"So... now we've got five of the seven accounted for, although we've got no idea what Leo's doing onstage," Jason said, looking at his friend, who was now pepping the crowd by shooting off a t-shirt gun and leading cheers. "We just need to find Piper and Annabeth."

Percy could tell that Jason looked as worried as Percy felt, even in the dark. _Annabeth_. She could be anywhere. And considering they had all gotten to New York in different ways, Percy wasn't completely sure that she was safe.

Back up onstage, Leo was holding up his hands, giving a grin at the audience, calling for quiet. "Well, if you're ready, ladies and gentlemen, we'll get started!"

He dashed over to a bunch of pyrotechnics and lit his hand on fire. Jason gasped, but the rest of the crowd cheered, thinking it was all a cool trick. Leo lit the pyrotechnics and ran off stage as they started going off, throwing multi-colored sparks into the air. Three separate stage platforms rose up, carrying at least two different performers on it wearing gold sparkly outfits and carrying numerous musical instruments.

"Hey!" Frank exclaimed. He pointed to one of the men on the stage. "I know that guy. He was on some of my mom's CDs. Died in a plane crash about sixteen years ago."

Hazel pointed as well. "I know her! She was around when I was little. I remember hearing her on the radio." She shook her head. "She has to be dead now."

Jason's mouth dropped open. "Is... is that _Elvis_?"

Percy would probably have gotten out of there right then, if it wasn't for the fact that Leo was backstage somewhere now and they still hadn't found Annabeth and Piper. He was slightly reassured to see that there were some people actually still alive onstage as well. He recognized a pop singer that had been plastered over the fan magazines for the past few years. Lady Something-or-Other. He didn't recall.

The people in the audience didn't seem to think that the dead singers were strange at all. Or they just didn't care. They cheered and screamed and sang along with the songs.

After about half an hour of singing and playing and switching on and off, the singers waved and marched offstage. Leo returned.

"We'll be taking a quick fifteen minute intermission, folks, but we'll be back! So don't you go wandering too far! See ya!" Leo gave the audience a wink and scurried offstage like he was high on caffeine, which he probably was.

The lights went up in the theater and people started talking, exiting to use the bathroom or buy refreshments and whatnot. Hazel stood up and stretched. Jason started wandering down towards the stage. Percy nudged Frank, who had fallen asleep in his seat.

"Wazzgoinon?" Frank said drowsily.

"We've got to get backstage and see if we can get Leo. And maybe sort out the dead guys to," Percy told him. "Fifteen minutes. Come on."

Hazel grabbed Frank's hand and pulled him up out of his seat.

Jason was busy looking around by the stage. "Guys, I think I've found how we can get in." He pointed to a small door near the bottom of the stage that read **MAINTENANCE**.

Percy pulled the handle. "Locked." He shrugged. "We'll have to find another way in."

"Wait a minute," Frank said. He concentrated and disappeared. Hazel gasped and lifted up her foot as a ladybug scurried around on the floor for a moment before scooting underneath the door. There was a short pause before the lock clicked and the door swung open, revealing a hunched over, human Frank. "Piece of cake."

Percy grinned at him. "What would we ever do without you?"

Frank shrugged, blushing a little. "Probably just blow everything up instead."

Percy nodded. "True, very true. But we do that anyway."

"Running out of time here, guys," Jason pointed out.

"Right, let's go," Percy said and pushed past Frank, leading the way down through the maintenance tunnel.

* * *

After a lot of cursing, stepping on people's feet and Jason making the various electrical lines start sparking in one instance, the four demigods finally managed to find a trapdoor that led into the backstage area. None of the performers or stagehands running around in a frenzy seemed to notice the four teenagers.

"Where's Leo?" Jason asked, looking around the mobs of people.

"There!" Hazel shouted, pointing. They had started to make their way over in that direction when they were apprehended.

"You!" A rather flustered woman blocked their path. "We need two extra hands on that set piece over there. You know your cue. Headsets!" A young man came rushing over and plopped two headsets on Frank and Jason's heads. "Move it when they tell you to." She turned to Percy. "Can you direct the performers on when it's time?"

"Um, I've never-" Percy started, but the woman waved her hand.

"Don't worry, they're all very independent. Just make sure they're onstage at the right time. Again, we'll cue you through the headset." She snatched another headset from the other guy and handed it to Percy before turning to Hazel. "Piper and Brenda needs you in hair and makeup. Hurry!" She hurried off before the four of them could say anything.

"Well then..." Frank said.

"Guys, we might as well. It'll be our best chance to get Leo and that woman said that I was going to work with Piper. If it's our Piper, then we just have to find Annabeth," Hazel pointed out.

"She's got a point," Percy said.

Jason sighed. "Okay, Percy, you try and get to Leo. Hazel, same with Piper. Frank and I will keep an eye out for Annabeth and anything suspicious."

"Curtain up in five," a voice said over their headsets, making Jason jump, Hazel cover her ears and Frank turn into a lizard.

Percy rolled his eyes.

Frank turned human again and smiled sheepishly. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

"Cue you, Mr. Valdez."

Percy pressed his hand to his headset, listening to Leo and some girl in the sound booth bantering back and forth. Leo was surprisingly smooth, considering that Percy had never actually heard him flirting before.

"Thank you Sarah and I'll cue you later," Leo said through Percy's headset, making Sarah giggle. Percy then heard Leo run onstage and start giving the audience another pepping up.

Someone handed Percy a clipboard and gave him a thumbs up. Percy grinned weakly and flipped through the papers on the clipboard. It was a list of performers and songs.

A herd of singers passed by Percy, whispering and adjusting their mikes before making their way onto the stage. Leo finished up with the crowd, made a grand sweeping gesture and came off, coming to stand beside Percy.

"Tough night?" Leo said.

Percy did a double take. "What? Uh, yeah. Sure."

Leo looked at him funny. "I haven't seen you around here before, have you?"

Percy gaped at him. "You don't know me?"

Leo pulled a Blackberry phone out of his pocket and started tapping the screen. "No. Should I?"

Percy looked down at his clipboard. "I guess not."

"You know, you keep getting jobs like this one and you could get my position someday, kid," Leo said, not looking up from his phone.

_Kid?_ Percy thought. "With all due respect... um, sir..." Leo glanced up. "How old are you?"

"How old am I?" The question seemed to catch Leo off-guard. He pushed the sleep button on his phone and stowed it in his pocket again. He glared at the sky. "No one's asked me that in a while... I would say... well, how old am I? Er... I suppose I'm about..." He trailed off and looked at Percy suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

Percy quickly looked at his clipboard again. "No reason. You just seem really young to be this far up in the business."

Leo nodded. "I suppose I do." He clapped Percy on the shoulder. "Well, pure talent, that's all I can say for it. Have a nice night, kid." Leo wandered off, winking flirtatiously at random women and sipping on a cup of coffee handed to him by a shy stagehand, which Percy wasn't exactly sure was a good idea. If he knew Leo like he thought he did, more caffeine was not what that boy needed.

Percy was about to take off after him, but a woman dressed in the same outfits as the rest of the performers intercepted him. "Excuse me darling," she drawled. "Can you check over my makeup? And my costume? And if you could maybe finish my hair up with this hairspray? Oh, and refasten my jewelry, if you would? Thank you darling."

"Don't you think Hair and Makeup would've been better equipped to handle this?" Percy asked as he redid the clasp on the star's necklace.

She turned and looked at him like he was an imbecile. "Of course not, darling. Those girls are much too on the Aphrodite side to be competent." And she swept off without a backwards glance, leaving Percy holding an industrial sized can of hairspray, which he shoved into his pocket absentmindedly.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Percy called after her, but she was already gone.

"PERCY?" Frank's voice came bellowing over Percy's headset, making him wince. "ARE YOU THERE? CAN YOU HEAR ME? PERCY?"

"Frank! Yes, I can hear you, you don't have to shout," Percy said, pulling the headset away from his ears.

"GOOD. HOW'S THINGS?"

"Well, I've lost track of Leo, but this woman said something about Aphrodite," Percy said. There was silence at the other end. "Frank?" No answer. "Jason?"

"Percy? Oh my gods, get over here, they've gotten Fran-" Jason's voice was abruptly cut off.

"Jason?" Percy said. "Jason?" He slammed his clipboard down. Things were not going well.

"Percy?" Hazel's voice came in through the headset. "I've found Piper, but she won't listen to me. Have you got Leo?"

"Yeah, sort of," Percy said, glancing over to where Leo was gulping down coffee and playing some game on an iPod, earbuds stuck in his ears. He wasn't wearing a headset. "Hazel, get somewhere, stay down, keep your head low. Bring Piper if you possibly can."

"Why? Percy, what's going on? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Just listen to me. Get somewhere safe. I'll come and find you later."

"Okay, but..." Hazel trailed off for a moment. Three seconds later, Percy heard her scream. "Percy! Help! Percy-"

"Hazel? Hazel! Are you there?" Percy yelled into his microphone.

"Are you okay, kid?" Leo said, placing a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"No, I'm really not," Percy muttered, twisting away from Leo and wrenching the headset off of his head. "My friends are going missing right now and I can't do anything about it."

"Can I help?" Leo asked, seemingly concerned.

"You could if you would just wake up!" Percy said, frustrated.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Leo said, backing away slightly.

"Seriously, is this some sort of sick joke, because I really don't find it funny," Percy snapped. "Do you know who you are or not?"

"Of course I know who I am!" Leo said, smoothing down his tux and straightening up. "I'm Leo Valdez. I'm from Texas. I've been working on this world tour since it opened about two months ago. I have a college degree in performing arts."

"What about your mom?"

"My... mom?"

"What was her name?"

"I... I don't..." Leo faltered.

"How did she die?" Percy asked the final question, feeling a little remorse for doing so.

Leo didn't say anything, just stood there, mouth hanging open.

"Right," Percy. "You're no help then. Listen, I don't know what's going on, but if you want to live, I suggest either getting your butt in gear or sticking with me."

Leo snapped his mouth shut and nodded stiffly.

Percy gave him a half-grin and turned on his heel, just in time for a piece of lead piping to connect with his head.

* * *

When he woke up, he wasn't sure he was actually awake. It was so dark, Percy couldn't really be sure of anything.

Then he realized he was tied back-to-back around some sort of pole to a squirming, yelling, Leo.

"Hey! Get me out of here! Do you know who I am?" Leo shouted.

Percy groaned.

"Percy?" Hazel's voice came through the darkness tentatively. Leo screamed again.

"There's someone else in here!" Leo started thrashing around frantically, whacking Percy's head against the pole.

"Ow!" Percy would've shoved his head into his hands in pain if they weren't tied to a pole. "Leo, calm down! It's just-OW!"

"Percy! Are you okay?"

"Percy?"

"Jason?" Percy said.

"Yeah," Jason said. "Frank's here too."

"Frank!" Hazel cried.

"Hi," Frank said.

"Who ARE all of you people?" Leo said. "Get me out of here! You're all crazy!"

"Leo, STOP!" Percy yelled. Leo shut up, for once in his life. "Thank you." Percy turned to look in the general direction of his friends. "We need to get out of here. Frank, any way you could turn into something small enough to get out of these ropes?"

The room went silent. Percy could practically feel Frank concentrating.

"Good going Frank," Jason said. "He got out." Then he gasped. "You had to turn into _that_?"

"What?" Hazel asked. She let out a strangled scream. "Frank! Is that you?"

"What's going on?" Leo asked in a whisper, his voice wavering.

"Keep calm Leo," Percy growled in between clenched teeth. He shifted in position and suddenly, something cool and scaly was slithering around his legs. "Frank!"

The snake tickled Percy's calf with his tongue.

"Okay..." Percy said. "Why are you still a snake?"

There was another long silence and suddenly a human Frank was sitting on Percy's legs.

"Ow!"

"Sorry," Frank said. "Here, let me untie you... um, hold on." Percy felt Frank get up and heard him move around the room for a moment. "Aha!" The lights clicked on.

Percy glanced around the room. Hazel was handcuffed to a metal bar. She smiled at Percy. Jason was sitting across the room tied in a similar position as Percy and Leo. His eyes were tightly closed.

"You okay?" Percy asked.

Jason nodded, but didn't open his eyes.

Percy turned his head and looked at Leo, who was doing a rather good impression of a fish. "Are you alright?"

"Uh huh," Leo squeaked.

"Great," Percy said. Frank had untied Jason by now and was trying to undo Hazel's handcuffs. He fiddled with the lock for a moment, before dropping it in frustration.

"I can't get it," Frank said, looking disappointed.

"I can," Leo suddenly piped up.

"You?" Frank said.

"He is a son of Hephaestus, Frank," Percy pointed out. "He might be able to figure it out."

If Leo heard the Hephaestus comment, he didn't mention it. "I'm pretty good with mechanics."

Frank shrugged. "Fine by me." He moved over to Percy and Leo and untied them. Leo got up, brushed himself off and made his way over to Hazel. He played with the lock for a couple of moments before it clicked.

"Nice," Frank said, impressed. Leo gave him a small smile.

"Well, then, let's get out of here," Jason said, climbing up off of the floor. He walked over the the door and tugged on the handle. "Locked. Again. How many locks are they going to put on us?"

"We're in a janitorial closet," Percy stated.

"How would you know?"

"Believe me, when you're trying not to get kicked out of school for the fifty bajillionth time, you get to know the janitor's closets pretty well. And they all look the same. Mostly."

"Okay..." Hazel said. "Well, now that we know more about Percy's juvenile delinquent nature, maybe we can try and get out of here."

Leo shrugged. "I can't do anything. Sorry."

"Frank, can you do your bug trick again?"

"I don't really want to try..." Frank said. "It was hard enough getting back from the snake."

"Percy?" Hazel said pleadingly.

Percy looked up, his head traveling in an arc around the closet. He sighed and rolled his shoulders back. "Stand back, guys."

Hazel and Frank backed up into the corner. Jason grabbed Leo and pulled him back as well.

Percy held out his hand. The pipes that encircled the space around them started shaking and clattering.

"What's going-"

Leo never did get to finish his sentence because at that moment the pipes exploded, water burst forth and the door was blasted off of it's hinges.

Hazel cheered, Frank started out the door, Jason flipped his coin, turning it into a _gladius_ and Percy pulled his pen from his pocket, Riptide springing to full size.

And Leo's mouth dropped open, his eyes rolled back into his head and he promptly passed out onto the wet floor.

* * *

**So... yeah.**

**I hope you liked the extra long chapter I gave you! It would've been longer, but there's a fight scene coming up and I tend to make those lengthy... XD**

**So... review!**

**AND NOW FOR MY LIFE!**

**So... since I've last talked to you all, my life has sort of gone really wacky. I'm now a junior in high school when I'm supposed to be a freshman (don't even ask, it's complicated), two of my best friends were at each other's throats for the last two weeks of school and are still giving each other the cold shoulder. I dumped my crush that wasn't mutual because I realized that wasn't going anywhere, but now the boy in question has turned up his flirting about 49%. I had a really stressful last few weeks of school, what with friends, drama, a whole bunch of other random extra curricular activities that took up all my time, a couple new fandoms, books, extra classes, grade troubles (mostly gym, because I am NOT a physical person). Trying to learn how to drive, got accepted to a summer camp, have a few jobs lined up, am working, stressing about updates and wondering how I got to be so busy in one year.**

**And... that's pretty much it. If you guys want to talk to me about anything, well then, that's what PMs are for!**

**Have a great summer everybody! Or winter, for the people on the other side of the world.**

**Shout out to Steven Moffat and Rick Riordan: I HATE YOU BOTH! YOU ARE SUCH TROLLS!**

**That is all.**

**Continue with your lives.**

**See you next week!**

**And... review!**

**Peace, love, and cheese,**

**Me.**


	3. III Percy

**Kept my promise, didn't I? **

**HERE IS A CHAPTER OF FOREST OF THE DEAD! WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!**

**And you'll get a chapter of Random Adventures tomorrow, mm hmm.**

**I'm not really going to say anything here, because it's almost 1 in the morning and I have to get up in four hours. Lucky me. **

**But enjoy your chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm too sleepy to own Percy Jackson or any affiliates. **

* * *

III

Percy

* * *

"Oops," Percy said, gazing down at Leo's still form on the floor.

Frank bent down. "He's fine. Just shock." He picked Leo up and slung him over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "Shall we?"

Jason went out of the doors first. Percy stayed in the middle, sword drawn, followed by Hazel and Frank came last, carrying Leo.

They crept down the dark hallway, Percy's sword giving off a little glow, and surprisingly, Leo's fiery aura was giving off a little light as well. Percy could tell that Jason in front of him was hovering off of the ground slightly, making the noise of their footsteps a little bit quieter by not adding to it.

They walked for about five minutes before finding a small outline of light in the shape of a square. Music was playing from somewhere above their heads.

"Trapdoor," Jason whispered.

"Go on then." Percy nodded, even though it wasn't visible in the dark.

Jason rose off of the floor even more and pushed upwards. The trapdoor above their heads swung upwards, light pouring into the small tunnel they were in. Jason stepped back to allow the others to move forwards.

Percy gripped the rim of the trapdoor and pulled himself up. As soon as light hit his face, he squinted. He could hear gasps from behind him and the music faltered. There was cheering from somewhere to his right and left and in front and everywhere as he pulled himself up and out of the trapdoor. He stood and lifted an arm in front of his eyes to block the blinding lights and... oh gods.

He was on a stage.

He was on _the _stage, in front of thousands of people who were still screaming, if a little confusedly. And behind him were three other armed teenagers who were making there way out, one of them carrying a fourth. Which probably didn't look all that good.

"Um..." Something screeched in Percy's ear and he realized he was still wearing his headset. Well that sucked. Whoever had locked them up in the first place had probably already realized that they had escaped. And now his voice was being projected to the entire theater. "Hi there...?"

The audience, having already decided that he was hear to replace Leo as the master of ceremonies, cheered. They didn't seem too upset at having the song they were listening to interrupted.

The singers, however, were a different story.

"How dare you!" a woman with blue hair welding a microphone hollered at Percy. "We were right in the middle of our set of great hits!"

"Sorry," Percy attempted. "I didn't mean to-" He ducked as the microphone was hurtled at his head. Apparently apologies weren't appreciated. A couple of boys in the second row caught the offered microphone and held it up to cat calls and whistles.

Frank had set Leo down now and his face was visible.

"You kidnapped the MC!" a thin man said, looking down his nose at the group. "And knocked him out."

Now the crowd was interested and having liked Leo, began booing.

Percy looked at the others for help and realized Hazel had disappeared. Frank was looking very hunched over and awkward, signs that showed he was getting ready to change forms. Jason had his coin out of his pocket and was twirling it in his fingers. Leo was still passed out on the floor and being no help whatsoever.

The crowd was starting to stand, just realizing that the concert they had probably paid a lot to come see was now stopped with no indication of starting again. A few people who were most likely rather drunk were trying to climb onto the stage while yelling curse words and being held back by security.

"You have interrupted our concert to the GODS!" a group of five boys yelled at Percy. A bunch of girls in the audience screamed upon hearing their voices. They flashed smiles at the audience, causing the cheering to grow.

"You're giving a concert to the gods?" Jason suddenly asked.

"Of course." The singers had begun climbing from their roosts on the stage, speaking scarily in unison, their glittery gold outfits glinting in the spotlights. "And now you must die."

* * *

"This is very not good," Frank said nervously.

"You think?" Percy said, feeling extremely stressed out. Usually, he would have a blonde super-genius to his immediate right-or left-who would be able to tell him exactly what he was up against, but now he had no one, making the space painfully obvious.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Jason asked.

"Try not to die?" Frank asked. "Then yes."

"No, I mean, I think those are automatons." Okay, not exactly the blonde genius Percy had been hoping for.

"Is that helpful?" Percy asked, sword drawn and pointed at the Automatons as they made their way slowly down towards them.

"It means they're made of metal. Pretty easy to stop. Just slice their arms off or something," Jason said, tossing his coin up into the air. "Or cut wires. Or melt them..." He trailed off when he realized that their expert in melting things was currently unconscious. His _gladius _fell back to earth and he caught it in his hand.

"Like Thor's hammer," Percy muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, movie reference," Percy said, realizing that while he had been asleep, he had missed the _Avengers_ movie coming out. Maybe Annabeth would like to see that... they could make it a date...

Girls were very distracting. Percy knew this because he almost got an arm cut off by a very angry golden automaton while thinking about Annabeth. Just in time, he got his sword hooked under the statue's arm and pushed, throwing the metallic creature back into a couple of it's stagemates.

Frank roared behind him and turned into a rather large grizzly bear with wicked sharp claws. The crowd had seemed to figure out that this wasn't all fun and games anymore and were currently trying to pile out of the theater, screaming. Leo groaned on the floor, stirring.

"Guys!" Hazel suddenly cried, appearing at the edge of the stage with a bewildered-looking Piper. "What happened?"

"Hazel!" Jason yelled. "They're metal statues, try and use something on them!" Hazel nodded and disappeared.

Piper looked after her frantically. "Wait!" Even when she didn't know who she was, Piper's voice was still frighteningly compelling. A few of the automatons stopped trying to kill them for a moment.

Piper ran out onto the stage. "What's going on here? Why are you attacking the singers?" Her eyes widened. "Oh my god! Terrorists!"

Jason sighed in disgust. "I don't have time for this." He grabbed Piper by the waist and crashed his lips against hers. Pipers eyes widened in shock. Percy would have been impressed with the smooth move if he hadn't currently been fighting for his life.

Piper shoved Jason away, blinking dazedly for a moment. "J-Jason?"

"Glad to see you back Pipes," he said, grinning.

Piper looked around at Frank and Percy, who were still being attacked by demon gold people and the ones that were advancing towards her. She drew her dagger. "Let's go, Sparky."

Meanwhile, Leo was sitting up, hand to his head. "Oh, that doesn't feel good. Hangover and a half."

Percy ducked as an automaton swung a guitar at his head. He slashed at it with his sword. The thing fell back as it's metal stomach now bore a gape in the smooth surface. "You've had a hangover?"

"Long story," Leo said as he climbed shakily to his feet. He looked down, finding his toolbelt nowhere in sight, and cursed. "What've we got."

"Angry gold..." Percy squinted at the automatons, most of whom had now changed shape or were looking like extremely deformed celebrities. "... bird-women. What?"

Leo snapped his fingers. "Celedones!"

Percy sliced another statue's fingers off, causing it to screech. "They look more like Sirens."

"My dad created them to sing in Apollo's second temple."

"Apollo had more than one temple?"

"Yeah," Leo said, ducking and kicking his foot out at a statue that had tried to kill him with a mascara wand. "They were supposed to sing for him."

"Well, now this night makes a whole lot more sense," Percy said. A statue got a lucky strike in and caught Percy's arm with a sharp talon. His sleeve ripped and a long cut appeared on his arm, blood dripping down. He curse and stabbed the statue, twisting his sword and rupturing it's circuits. Another came at him and swiped his feet out from under him. Riptide went skittering away as Percy's head came into contact with the ground. Either the statues were getting smarter or he was getting slower.

The others weren't faring much better. Leo was shooting white-hot bursts of flame at statues, melting their faces and arms and sending them staggering off in different directions. Hazel was moving her hands in different directions, sending the metal people crashing into each other and into the walls, but the effort of moving the large heavy statues seemed to be taking it's toll on her. Frank was throwing statues around and swiping at them with huge grizzly paws. Piper was fending them off with her knife and trying to charmspeak them, but apparently the Celedones were not too affected. Jason had risen up into the air to get a better view of the battlefield and it was very obvious that they couldn't do this much longer. The mortals, luckily, had now evacuated the theater, leaving the demigods to fight the Celedones by themselves.

Percy groaned. A Celedone was running towards him as he sat up and it pounced, pinning him back to the ground and raising a hand to come down on his face, talons extended and sharp. Percy reflexively closed his eyes, waiting for the strike.

It never came. Instead, the statue fell to the side, it's head ripped open. In it's place was someone Percy had never been so glad to see that day.

Annabeth smiled down at him. "Come on Seaweed Brain. I hate pop culture." She offered him a hand and Percy took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"I missed you," he said, pulling Riptide from his pocket, where it had magically reappeared.

"Me too," Annabeth said, whirling around and stabbing a statue. Percy took her back and swung his sword at a pair of statues, ripping through them easily with the Celestial Bronze.

Hazel screamed from somewhere to the right. Leo had temporarily gotten distracted by one statue and had let another sneak up on him. His fire went wild, consuming a curtain on the side of the stage and creating a raging bonfire. The statues near him were melting rapidly, caught in the blaze, but so was Leo, who appeared to have lost control over the fire and was now trying not to let it spread, but generally making it worse.

Frank was tossing automatons into the audience seats. Hazel on his back, looking tired, Frank keeping her from the blazing fire and looking very skittish, if a bear could look skittish.

Piper's shirt was torn. She had a cut on her cheek and her hair was all in her face as she fiercely battled a trio of Celedones. She stabbed one and jumped on the other's back, making it turn and crash into it's brethren, but more were coming at all of them. The fire was licking the seats in the audience and getting dangerously close to Percy and Annabeth. They were running out of time.

"Any bright ideas?" Percy asked his girlfriend, kicking a statue in the chest and stabbing another through the head.

Annabeth thought for a split second, then looked up towards the sky. "JASON!"

The son of Zeus glanced down at her and nodded. A group of Celedones were climbing the metal structures on the sides of the stage and up in the catwalks about twenty feet in the air, trying to get to him. Jason flew to the middle of the stage, raised his _gladius_ and yelled.

Bolts of lightning flew down into the theater, connecting with the metal statues and tracing an archway between them. The Celedones all started shaking and sputtering, their circuits frying as the electricity coursed between them. Jason's sword kept conducting lightning for a full forty seconds, before the statues grabbed their heads and collapsed to the ground.

Annabeth grinned. "Metal. Great conductor of electricity."

"Jason!" Piper screamed. He had faltered in midair, his energy almost completely drained. He made a desperate attempt to keep himself in flight, but as exhausted as he was, just couldn't do it. He dropped down towards the stage.

Instantly, Frank was a huge eagle and had swooped back towards the stage, catching Jason in midair and turning with a speed that was surprising. He landed on the back of one of the seats and deposited Jason into Hazel's arms, screeching in satisfaction before a human Frank was back, perched on the back of the seat and incredibly off-balance. He fell off of the other side.

Piper was already in the audience, running towards her boyfriend. Annabeth had jumped off of the stage. Percy turned back to Leo.

The fire had now consumed almost the entire stage. Timbers and metal beams were falling downwards. Dead Celedones were melting into puddles of gold. Leo was standing in the middle of the blaze, still on fire himself, and looking extremely desperate. He turned rather terrified eyes towards Percy and shouted something that was lost over the roar of his fire. Probably "Run!"

Percy glanced down at the flame licking his shoe and jumped off of the stage after Annabeth. His friends had already gathered at the exit door, Jason dead on his feet, but being held up by Frank and Piper. Percy sprinted towards them just as the stage collapsed inwards with a groan. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Leo make a desperate, making it off of the stage and into the audience but bringing the flames with him. Percy could hear him scream in frustration.

He caught up with Annabeth. "Get out."

"What?" The blonde looked at him incredulously. "No! I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to get everyone else safely away from the building. You know what I'm going to do."

Annabeth crossed her arms stubbornly. "No. I refuse."

Percy was startled for a moment. It wasn't like Annabeth to do something that wasn't general common sense or the smartest decision. "I'll be okay. I'll get out."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue it some more, but Piper grabbed her with the arm that wasn't holding Jason and tugged. "He's right. Come on."

Annabeth gave him a last look and grabbed his shirt collar. "Promise?"

Percy nodded and kissed her. She seemed mollified and turned, helping push Hazel out of the building.

Percy turned back to the theater, which had now become a raging inferno. Leo was clawing his way up the aisle, using the seats to drag himself forwards. His ankle wasn't looking very good at all to Percy, swollen and red, even in the flames.

Percy took a deep breath and shut his eyes. This was New York. Huge city. Hundreds of thousands of sources of water, all of them at his command. He was in his element. He was in his _home_.

He shoved his arms forwards, palms extended, letting out a yell as gallons of water, from salt to fresh, came pouring into the theater from everywhere, splashing down the aisles and extinguishing the fire, hissing as it turned to steam. It wasn't nearly enough, but it would have to do.

Leo was lying in the aisle, soaking wet and steaming gently, smoke curling off of his clothes and hair. Percy knelt beside him. Leo groaned.

"I don't feel good."

Percy smiled slightly. "I'll bet. Come on." He picked Leo up and half-dragged, half-carried him out, the son of Hephaestus making feeble attempts to help. The made it out of the exit, where the other five were waiting. Sirens could be heard up and down the block, coming to put out the rest of the fire.

Percy set Leo down so he was leaning against the wall and turned to look at the rest of his friends. They were all covered in soot and dirt, cuts bleeding and bruises forming. Everyone looked exhausted, especially Jason. In all honesty, Percy wasn't sure that his legs would be able to keep him up much longer.

He looked down the streets, the New Yorker in him judging the distance between two points. He smiled and got Leo back up onto his feet, letting him lean on his shoulder for support.

"Come on guys," Percy said to his weary crew. "I know a place where we can rest."

* * *

**Agh...**

**Yes, I enjoy beating up on these guys. Especially Leo these last few chapters. Ah well. Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Any guesses as to where they are going now? **

**Any guesses as to other plot stuff? Like the mysterious disappearance of Nico?**

**I'm pretty sure anything strange written in this chapter is on purpose and a plot device for later... MWA HA HA HA! **

**So... yeah. Three chapters in and I'm already developing plot structure and a couple twists. I'M SO ON MY GAME!**

**And now I shall sleep. **

**Goodnight peoples of the internet... although I suppose it's morning now... ah well. **

**REVIEW!**


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